1981 Jeep Cherokee

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Remarkably Rust-Free Arizona Jeep        David: 303.947.0444

I've restored 20+ cars in my life and I swore I'd never do another one. So when I bought this Jeep in December of last year, it was going to be a quick cleanup, maybe a little paint work under the hood, and fire it back out. Things got out of hand when I discovered this already painted and lifted Jeep had two dead cylinders. 

First a note about the mileage. We reset the odometer when we restored the gauge cluster, so the vehicle has 206 miles since full restoration. I used those 200 miles to proof out all the repairs and rebuilds and have gone back through and retorqued bolts, adjusted various componentry like the carb, cruise control, and many others. I also used this time to proof out the cooling system and center the steering wheel. The oil has been changed three times so basically the vehicle is completely run in and ready to go. 

Everything That Was Done:

We started with a vehicle that has an Arizona CarFax all the way back to 1993.

Off came the sheet metal, out came the engine, the transmission, the transfer case, the interior, the body and engine bay wiring harness, and I was off to the races again. I've never owned a Jeep before and I was impressed with the way the vehicle was built. So I lavished what I've learned in the last 40 yeas in building Hemi cars, 16-cylinder Cadillacs, and Jaguars onto this vehicle. 

The engine was completely rebuilt and assembled by me. The 727 transmission and the transfer case were both completely disassembled, rebuilt, and resealed. In fact every mechanical item on this vehicle has been rebuilt or replaced (including the wiper motor) with the exception of the brake booster and the front Dana 44 axle. 

Starting from the front of the vehicle: new front springs and bushings, rebuilt steering gear and new coupler, steering stabilizers, and the ball joints and tie rod ends on the front axle have been replaced. A new VHT high efficiency core was installed in the radiator with a Haden electric fan backed up by a new fan clutch, water pump, and all hoses and belts. The engine was carefully built and balanced. In addition to the rebuild, it has an Edelbrock 4-barrel carb, Edelbrock intake manifold, 100 AMP alternator, Carter electric fuel pump, high torque compact starter, NOS smog pump and diverter valve, and a new engine wiring harness which retains the original hookups for the stock system and a new harness was built for the MSD distributor coil and control box. On the firewall, which I painted because this is a color change vehicle from white to red, the heater box was restored with new core and all new seals and new fan motor. The wiper motor was disassembled and freshened up. I replaced the master cylinder, the front brake calipers, measured the front rotors which turned out to be new, and replaced all the brake components in the rear including the drums. I even replaced the brake proportioning valve. Because I restore vehicles, the appearance of the engine bay was very important to me. So in the pictures note the colors and finishes of the pumps, brackets, bolts, and all the detail. Once again this wasn't my intention but it's just what I do. 

For the suspension, the steering box and power steering pump was rebuilt, the coupler replaced, new bushings for the new front springs, tie rod ends have been replaced, and the ball joints in the front axle were replaced by the previous owner. The front axle cover was removed, inspected, and resealed. The sway bar and steering stabilizer were replaced and go a long way to make this an extremely good driving vehicle despite the lift. When I purchased the vehicle it had an 8" lift on it and the driveline angles were completely unrealistic, so I lowered it back down to a 3" lift. A new front driveshaft was fabricated, the rear driveshaft was rebalanced and new U-joints installed and the rear axle was completely rebuilt with new ring and pinion, bearings, seals, etc. The rear springs had already been replaced with new bushings and I just put in smaller lift blocks. Along with all the rebuilding the rear axle both were professionally refinished and detailed as well as the rear hitch assembly. The fuel tank was dropped, cleaned out, and a new sending unit installed. The turn signal stalk with cruise control was replaced with a new piece. The relay for the cruise under the dash was replaced. The cruise box under the hood is an NOS unit. Making this one of the few Jeeps where the cruise control actually works. 

Speaking of paint, the exterior paint on the car is about 85% of a top notch job. The color change was well done and has been on the Jeep for 10+ years so if any problems were going to arise they would have happened by now. The stripes are 1980 Cherokee Chief which are the best looking stripe package that Jeep ever had. They painted the jambs professionally with Hot Rod black and they match the stripes. This isn't the normal way to do a color change but it looks great. So I continued the black jamb theme by stripping out the interior, and repainting all of the remaining visible white inside the same Hot Rod black. The hood and inner fenders were sent off to a media blaster, successfully stripping off the one side of the panels. I then repainted them red as well as the firewall. The frame horns, both axles, all engine brackets, accessories were painted Hot Rod black. Always professionally painted, never with spray cans. 

When I had the interior out I found light surface rust in the foot wells on the right and left sides. I stripped and painted those with POR15. The underside of the vehicle, rear the firewall, was purposely left with the original finish on it to show off the rust free nature of the vehicle. The factory Crayon markings are still visible underneath this car, that's how perfect it is. 

The interior, like the rest of the truck, borrows from the best that Jeep had to offer in those years with custom touches. The interior was done by a nationally recognized Riddler award winning street rod upholsterer. The door panels are inspired by the Grand Wagoneer, with the upper wood-grain applique. The panel itself is custom but incorporates Grand Wagoneer moldings, arm rests, and power widows and locks. All of the vinyl is super high-grade pig skinned grained Cognac. The doors were completely disassembled, new weather strips and run channels along with new vent rubbers were applied. The mechanical parts of the door were rebuilt and the window motors freshened up. The dash has a custom hand stitched cover on it as well as a hand-stitched steering wheel cover. A new wiring harness, rebuilt and restored gauges also with the Grand Wagoneer wood grain, an ABS plastic glovebox liner, upgrades the dash like the rest of the vehicle. The stereo got new speakers and powered base driver behind the dash. The head unit is a CD but has the capability to plug in an iPod or other device. I don't know if this means you can plug your phone or not. The factory enclosures for the speakers (four of them) combined with the powered base drive makes this old system absolutely rock, it sounds great. So I left it instead of replacing it. The seats are Grand Wagoneer buckets covered in leather with seat heaters upgrade. Both right and left are powered. The center armrest has a quick release mechanism that allows you to easily remove it to gain access to the back seat. The front seat pedestals as well as the rear seat folding pan was refinished at a high level and the seat motors were disassembled, re-lubricated and the contacts cleaned. The rear passenger compartment was upgraded with trim panels, also inspired by the Grand Wagoneer, and the seat covered in leather. The rear cargo area has new side boards, bound carpeting, and the cargo strips were refinished better than new. Throughout the vehicle, in strategic places, Dynamat was added along with a fully padded, pig skinned grained, Cognac vinyl headliner which makes this Jeep very quiet.  

The air-conditioner which from the factory hangs underneath the dash was completely disassembled and professionally rebuilt. The evaporator and the condenser were acid cleaned; the compressor, dryer, and hoses are brand new with an added sight glass. This system blows a high volume of air that is painfully cold. The air-conditioning box itself was repainted along with the steering column, armrest bases, seatbelt reel covers, and any other associated interior component. These vehicles were known over-heaters and vapor lockers. The combination of the high efficiency custom radiator core along with the thermostatically controlled electric fan, new fan clutch, fan shroud, water pump, and a double isolated electric fuel pump allows this vehicle to maintain temperature while in gear, standing still, with AC on, on a 95 degree day. 

The front windshield and rearview mirror has been replaced. The visors were recovered in the same pig skinned vinyl as the headliner and the visor mounts and headliner moldings were refinished. The back glass and tailgate were disassembled and I replaced most of the mechanism as well as installed new run channels in the tailgate and the roof where the back glass closes into. Also new weather strips were applied to the tail gate. 

What's Wrong with the Vehicle:

If one chose to, the Jeep could be a complete show vehicle by repainting the frame and the underbody from the firewall back. The vehicle comes with a same size spare tire and wheel (along with the factory spare tire and wheel) but I haven't figure out what to do with it. The grill frame is acceptable with some small dents but probably should be restored or replaced. The rear roof molding on the right side has a small dent it. If you were going to make a show vehicle the front aluminum bumper should be refinished but is perfectly acceptable for day-to-day use. The back glass has some light scratches in it and despite all my work in the tailgate, occasionally you have to have the engine running to make it roll all the way up without pausing. 

I've owned lots of trucks including vintage Ram Chargers and 1950's Power Wagons. I've never been a Jeep fan but this vehicle turned out very impressive. The ride quality, turning radius, interior quietness, and custom luxury touches, makes this Jeep exceptional in my mind. I nicknamed it High and Tight. 

David: 303.947.0444

Also published at eBay.com

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